Sunday Sermon: One Body, Many Parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-31)

2 views

March 26, 2023

Pastor Gabriel Hughes teaches his Sunday school class on 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 where we read about how we are all individual members of one body for the glory of Christ and the benefit of one another. Visit wwutt.com for more great messages!

00:20: You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on this podcast we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a
00:29: New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.
00:36: Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 beginning in verse 12.
00:44: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
00:56: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one
01:06: Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand,
01:15: I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye,
01:23: I do not belong to part of the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body, oh
01:32: I'm sorry, I skipped a line. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
01:38: If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose.
01:49: If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
01:58: The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
02:04: On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.
02:22: But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it. That there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
02:33: If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together.
02:41: Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administering in various kinds of tongues.
02:58: Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
03:04: Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way.
03:19: Let's take a moment to pray. Heavenly Father, as we consider this passage today, lead us and guide us in this.
03:26: Help us to understand what it means to be members of one another, to be individual parts of the body, and yet part of the same body.
03:34: All of us assign the parts that we are by God himself. And so may we conduct ourselves to the glory of Christ and in service to one another as the scripture leads.
03:47: It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. So in teaching on this passage at my former church when
03:54: I was pastor in Kansas, I had used this particular illustration. Each one of us is a different member of the body, and the giftings that we have been given by the
04:05: Holy Spirit will correspond to perhaps that member of the body that we might call ourselves.
04:12: You know, if you would call yourself a foot, or call yourself a hand, or something to that effect, just as Paul uses that particular illustration here.
04:19: Now we tend to think of a person who does service might be a hand of the body.
04:24: A person who goes like a missionary would be the feet. A person who's looking for needs, the needs of the church, that person would be an eye.
04:34: A person who's really good at sitting and counseling with somebody or listening to them would be like an ear. And a person who is able to give good exhortation and direction would be more like the mouth.
04:44: So there's kind of the ways that we would take our respective giftings and might assign a part of the body to those different gifts.
04:52: Now some of us have a tendency to want to desire to be among a group of people that are just like us.
04:58: I want to be with people that have the same passions and the same desires that I have.
05:04: So we'll want to find a church that's all about the same things that I'm about. I am missions -minded, so I want to go to a church where everybody else is missions -minded.
05:14: We have direction about missions. And so if we think of that part of the body, that missions person, as being like the foot, you might be saying,
05:24: I want to go to a church where there's a lot of other feet. Everybody else is a foot like me. I'm telling you, if that's the kind of church you're looking for, you're looking for a dysfunctional church.
05:36: Because if every part of the body is exactly the same, you don't have a functioning body.
05:42: As I've heard another preacher say about this, if you go to a church where everybody's a bunch of feet, what you're going to end up with is a very smelly church.
05:53: So it's important that there is diversity in the body. That God is going to give to each one of us different giftings.
06:03: And with that, perhaps even different passions. So there are people here at First Baptist Church of Lyndale very passionate about missions.
06:12: There are other people here in Lyndale very passionate about local evangelism. There are others here that are passionate about adoption, passionate about helping a local crisis pregnancy center, that are passionate about music, that are passionate about teaching.
06:30: And each person has a different gift for a different reason. To the glory of God, to the service of the body.
06:39: Paul plainly states here, and we saw it in the section last week as well in verses 1 -11.
06:45: The reason why a person has a gifting is for the service of the body.
06:51: To help to build the rest of the body up. Your hand can't just decide,
06:57: I'm going to go off and do my own thing. Your hand is attached to yourself to help the rest of the body. And so we, as said twice here in this section, we saw it two times.
07:07: We are many members, individually, but we are part of one body.
07:13: Christ being the head, we being the body of Christ. So as we look at this particular section this morning, our outline breaks out this way or breaks down this way.
07:24: First of all, we consider how we're one body in many parts. That's in verses 12 -13.
07:30: Secondly, we'll see how God has arranged the parts of the body. How do we decide who gets to be the hand and who gets to be the foot and what other things?
07:40: God has arranged that. That's in verses 14 -20. Thirdly, we'll see how
07:45: God gives honor to the parts of the body. Who receives the greater honor?
07:51: Who gets lesser honor? God has decided that. Verses 21 -26 is where we'll read about that. And then finally, we're reminded once again how we are the body of Christ in verses 27 -31.
08:03: Now I want to remind you once again, just as I had mentioned last week, none of this is imperative.
08:09: There is not a specific instruction that Paul gives to the church, at least not here in chapter 12.
08:17: None of this is imperative. You go do this. You don't see that kind of instruction here in chapter 12.
08:24: This is mostly informative, if you'll remember the way that chapter 12 began. Concerning spiritual gifts, brothers,
08:31: I do not want you to be uninformed. So Paul is being informative here. Now at the very end of chapter 12, you may have noticed that Paul said in verse 31, but earnestly desire the higher gifts.
08:44: Well, isn't that an imperative? Isn't Paul telling them to do something? That's actually descriptive.
08:50: And I'll talk about that when we get to the end of the section. So all of this is informative.
08:55: We're hearing about who we are as the body of Christ. Imperatives would be implied, but they're not explicitly stated.
09:02: But then when we get to chapter 13 next week, all of that is very imperative. So we'll get all kinds of exhortation when we get to chapter 13.
09:12: But for now, we're hearing something informative describing who we are as the body of Christ and how this body is supposed to function in honor of the
09:21: Lord and in service to one another. So coming back to verses 12 and 13, as we open this up, hearing about how we are one body in many parts, verse 12 says, but just as the body is one and many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ.
09:38: I have a very similar statement to that in Romans chapter 12, verse 5.
09:44: It says almost exactly the same thing. Though we are many members, we are one body in Christ Jesus.
09:50: Verse 13 says, for in one spirit, we were all baptized into one body.
09:56: Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit.
10:02: So in this statement, by one spirit, we were baptized. This is not a reference to water baptism. We're talking about a spiritual baptism here.
10:09: Though we all certainly, if you're a member of the body of Christ, if you've confessed
10:15: Christ, you've been baptized. So we've all had a baptism, and though maybe all of us in our testimonies would say that we've had a different person baptize us, you know, whoever your pastor would have been at that time who baptized you.
10:28: Nonetheless, we all received the same baptism, right? It was the Holy Spirit who had first baptized us in his spirit.
10:36: That had happened in our hearts. And then outwardly, we confess that baptism with our water baptism.
10:42: Matthew 3 .11 says that Jesus baptized not with water, but with the Holy Spirit. And so we have all been baptized in his spirit and made to drink of one spirit.
10:52: And so we all partake of the same graces, such as faith, hope, and love.
10:59: And we are daily under his guidance and direction. So we understand at the very onset of this particular section, how we are one body in many parts.
11:10: But we all, being one body, have that one spirit. The one Holy Spirit who is in us all.
11:17: Now, Paul, of course, sets that before the Corinthians because it's understanding that that should help to cure any of these divisions that exist within the church in Corinth.
11:28: And of course, we know there are many. This is a very divided church, divided for any number of reasons.
11:33: But Paul reminding them once again, you are of one spirit, so that you would not be divided. But recognize that all of you have the same
11:41: Holy Spirit dwelling within you. We go from there into this next section, verses 14 to 20, where Paul says how it is
11:49: God that has arranged the parts of the body. Lest anybody in the church in Corinth want to brag about their gift, or look at me and look at what all
12:00: I've done and all I've accomplished. Whatever you have and whatever you've done is to the glory of God.
12:07: Remember that Paul had set this right at the very beginning of the letter back in chapter 1. Let anyone who boasts, boast in whom?
12:17: Boast in the Lord. And Paul had said in 1 Corinthians 1 .30, it is His doing that you are in Christ Jesus.
12:25: None of you have any cause of boasting even in your own salvation. For it is
12:30: God who has done this. And just as He has brought you to Himself, so He has gifted you and given you assignment, marching orders, so to speak, as to the function and purpose that you would fulfill in His body, as a member of His body.
12:48: So in verse 14, we read, For the body does not consist of one member, but many.
12:56: Now, lest anybody think that the church is supposed to be exactly of the same mind.
13:02: I've gotten into the podcast cultish recently. I don't know if you've heard of this podcast cultish, but as I've been doing lots of work outside and in my garage, usually
13:11: I've got some kind of podcast that I'm listening to. But what these hosts go through in this podcast is they examine different cults and then pointing to what scripture actually says and how they'll listen to testimonies of people who used to be part of that cult and how they've been won out of it.
13:26: One of the common characteristics you hear in a lot of cults is everybody thinks exactly the same.
13:32: And it's almost like you could talk to one person about what you believe and the other person says exactly the same thing, word for word.
13:41: So Paul, with this particular statement in verse 14, would probably confront that notion or that idea that we all must be exactly the same, thinking the same thoughts, doing the same things.
13:53: He says, no, we're one body, but we consist of many members. Try to get all of the members to think exactly alike.
14:02: It's really difficult. I've got five kids. I can't even get my five children to think exactly alike. I remember when
14:09: I was in marching band in college and we would have the piccolos. Anybody ever been in a marching band? You have the piccolos.
14:15: We'd be doing some John Philip Sousa piece. The piccolos always have that high and extremely moving part as they're playing what like 30 second notes or something like that or playing this very complicated piece.
14:28: You could never get the piccolos in unison. And I remember one particular practice that we had.
14:34: My band director finally just got frustrated. Mr. Bruce was his name. He just cut like right in the middle of the piece.
14:42: And he looked at the flutes in the front row and he said, you know how you get two piccolos to play in unison? You shoot one.
14:53: We're about to have a members meeting tonight as Baptists. It's going to be hard to get all of us to think exactly alike, right?
14:59: Now we should be patient with one another. We should be kind and considerate, considering other's needs ahead of our own.
15:06: But this is not groupthink. We're not part of a cult. We're not being told to think exactly these same things and everybody has to repeat the same answers and do the same stuff.
15:16: Paul says we are one body. But that one body does not consist of one member, but many members.
15:25: Verse 15, if the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body. That would not make it any less a part of the body.
15:35: And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body.
15:40: That would not make it any less a part of the body. Now you have four parts that have been mentioned here already.
15:46: You have the foot and the hand that have been paired together. And you have the eye and the ear. Now you might just think that Paul is using a random example, but the fact of the matter is that he's talking about something that he's already discussed with regards to spiritual gifts that we've read here in chapter 12.
16:07: Look back up a little bit to where he started listing the particular gifts of the spirit.
16:13: This is in verse eight. So in verse seven, he says, to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.
16:20: In verse 80 says, for to one is given through the spirit, the utterance of wisdom and to another, the utterance of knowledge, according to the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing, to another working of miracles, prophecy, the ability to distinguish between spirits, various kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues.
16:43: So you have this listing of the gifts of the spirit here at the early part of chapter 12. So then when
16:49: Paul gets here, where he talks about a hand and a foot, and then an eye and an ear, this is a discussion about those who do physical service and those who commit themselves to preaching and teaching.
17:02: The hand and the foot, what kind of service would that be? Yeah, that's physical.
17:08: That's helping with the material needs of the people in the body. And however you would take spiritual gifts and categorize them there, you know, like where we read later on about gifts of administration, gifts of service and things of that kind, that would fit with the hand and the foot.
17:26: And then you have this other reference to the eye and the ear. What would that be in reference to? That's the preaching and teaching.
17:33: That's the knowledge and wisdom aspect. So because like in metaphors, in Eastern metaphors, the eye was typically referred to as a source of knowledge.
17:46: Whatever the eye sees, whether reading or looking and observing, same goes with the ear, hearing, teaching, hearing sounds of things that are around you, all of this being connected with knowledge.
17:58: So you have basically like two branches of spiritual gifts here. Those that help to meet the material needs of the church and those that help to meet the spiritual needs of the church.
18:11: So Paul contrasts the ear, a humbler part of the body with the eye, a more noble part of the body.
18:17: The difference in these two examples is significant. The foot and the hand are thought to represent a more active labor intensive life, whereas the eye and the ear represent the more contemplative life committed to wisdom and learning.
18:32: From there, Paul goes on in verse 17 to say, if the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
18:40: And if the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? Now, Paul here is just using examples to kind of put things in categories of either material needs or spiritual needs.
18:54: But sense of smell just made me laugh. I was like, okay, what part of the spiritual body of Christ needs to smell people?
19:03: Anyway, that's just a Gabe random thought there. But I thought I would throw that out there. Verse 18, but as it is,
19:10: God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as who chose as he chose.
19:18: If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
19:26: So right here in this section, we begin and end with the same statement. Notice that it bookends. Verse 14, the body does not consist of one member, but many.
19:34: And verse 20, as it is, there are many parts, yet one body. And if all were a single member, where would the body be?
19:43: Now, as I said before, I mentioned this last week when talking about spiritual gifts. If you don't know what your gifting is, that's fine.
19:52: Talk to somebody. Because as it says in Proverbs, there's wisdom with many counselors.
19:58: Just because God has designated the parts of the body and who's going to do what, doesn't mean you're automatically going to receive from God some message or some word.
20:09: Oh, I know what it is that I'm supposed to do now. And then you impose upon the church. Well, this is what
20:14: God has told me that I'm supposed to do. So you have to let me do it. Because that's certainly not service to the body.
20:21: That's who are you exalting in that case? Yeah, you're just exalting yourself. So how do we know what our gifting is and how we can help the body?
20:30: Well, ask people. Ask if there's somebody who can help you realize what that is and where that need needs to be met in the body of Christ.
20:40: Now, a common misconception when it comes to talking about spiritual gifts is that if you have a spiritual gift, you always have that spiritual gift.
20:51: This is always my gift. This is what it is that I'm supposed to do. So just give me an assignment and let me do it and leave me alone.
20:59: This is the gift that I have and nobody can do this but me. And again, that becomes very self -centered if that becomes your attitude.
21:06: But I would impress upon you that maybe your gifting is not something that is always going to last.
21:12: And what would I base that on? A couple of things. First of all, when Paul says to Timothy in 2
21:18: Timothy 1, fan into flame the gift that has been given to you. The implication there is if he does not use the gift that he had been given, what might happen to it?
21:33: Yeah, it just burns out, right? Because Paul makes the comparison of it being a flame. So fan into flame.
21:39: Grow that fire. Feed it. Let that passion be in you burning and do it. If Timothy would neglect that gift, then he could lose that gift.
21:48: So that's the implication there. Second thing, second example that I would give with regards to the gift.
21:55: The needs of the body itself changes. Exactly right. You may have noticed here at First Baptist Lyndale, but we're kind of growing.
22:06: It's becoming harder to find a place to sit in whatever service you decide to go to. And if you're a little bit late and you've got a family of seven people like mine is, if you haven't reserved that pew early, you're not going to be sitting in the same pew.
22:20: You're probably going to end up being staggered in different places. So as this body is growing and new people are being added to it, the needs of the body are changing.
22:30: And that's some of the things that we're going to be talking about even tonight at the members meeting. So as the needs of the body change, maybe the gift that you have changes.
22:40: Maybe it even matures. Maybe the little thing that you've been doing before is now something bigger because there's more people, more needs to attend to.
22:50: Or maybe there's now more people to fill that particular role and you don't find a place there anymore.
22:56: But maybe you have another gifting that God has given you. That's a service that would work somewhere else.
23:03: So that's just to say that as the needs of the body change, maybe the assignment that God has for you changes as well.
23:10: I just want to impress that upon you. Not to say that maybe you're wrong. Maybe you need to change your gift, something like that.
23:15: But just to say that don't just kind of get stuck in your rut.
23:21: You know what I mean? Don't become complacent. Don't become, this is what I'm meant to do and I'm not going to do anything else.
23:27: I gave up a senior pastor position at another church to become an assistant pastor at this church.
23:33: Because in the time and season that my wife and I felt like the Lord was leading us, this was where we were supposed to be.
23:39: So maybe there is a, because of the seasons changing, the needs of the body changing, maybe there is something that God is calling you to do differently in the body.
23:50: Yes, ma 'am. The physical body as well. That's right.
23:57: That's a good point. So maybe you're just getting too old to be able to do it.
24:03: I can't do this anymore. So brother Doug had a, you know,
24:09: I don't mean to go from physical body breaking down to Doug, but anyway, just flowed that way.
24:18: But earlier this year, Doug had some things come up and he had to step down from teaching. Thank God there were other teachers to fill in that spot.
24:26: But now as Doug's schedule is opening up a little bit more, he feels the need to step back into that teaching role and we're going to find a place for him because we know that Doug is gifted for teaching.
24:35: So again, as needs change, as availability changes, different things like that, sometimes maybe even your gifting or the assignment of that gifting may change.
24:46: So as we continue on here in verses 18 to 20, well, I finished that up. The next section verses 21 to 26, where we read about how
24:55: God gives honor to the parts of the body. So God has assigned the parts of the body and God gives honor to these respective parts of the body.
25:03: Verses 21 to 23, the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you.
25:09: Nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Now notice that we've gone here from Paul talking individually about what your assignment might be, what your gifting might be, and your service would be to the body.
25:22: We've gone from that in verses 14 to 20. And now we're kind of addressing everybody collectively, right?
25:28: 21, the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. So the church cannot say to one of its members, we don't have any need of you.
25:37: The whole church has a responsibility to know who our members are and what their gifting might be and how they can help serve the body.
25:49: So just as if you might not know what your gifting is, ask somebody and they might help give you counsel or guidance and to find out what your gift is and how you can serve the body.
25:58: So the church also has the responsibility to know who our members are and what their giftings are so that they might be put to work and help to serve within the body.
26:09: Going on into verse 22, on the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.
26:16: You can't say to any part of the body, you're an appendix. You're out of here. You're a gallbladder that's driving me crazy.
26:23: Time for you to be amputated. Verse 23, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty.
26:36: Every part of the body is necessary because God has arranged them, right?
26:43: The most notable parts of the body cannot say to the lesser parts, I have no need of you. It may be that the lesser parts are there for the noble parts to humble themselves and associate with the lowly, as it says in Romans 12, 16, or so that those who are strong bear with the failings of the weak to build them up,
27:02: Romans 15, one and two. When the stronger builds up the weaker or our less presentable members become much more presentable, the entire body benefits.
27:11: Listen to this from John Gill. He says, so the more weak and feeble saints whose hearts and hands are to be strengthened, whose infirmities are to be the bore, have their usefulness, and the effectual working in the measure of every part, even of the feebler and tender, make increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love.
27:38: And these God has seen fit as necessary to call by His grace and place in the body that His strength may be made perfect in their weaknesses and to confound the mighty.
27:54: For out of even the mouths of babes, He has ordained strength and praise, as said in Psalm 8.
28:03: And so in verses 24 to 25, our more presentable parts do not require the greater modesty.
28:11: But God has so composed the body giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
28:24: God has so composed the body meaning that God has so closely knit the body together so that at one part is dependent upon another.
28:35: Each part is dependent upon each other. Even the greater parts need the lesser parts.
28:41: Your feet still need your toes. Amen. Every part is useful and contributes to the whole that the members may have the same care for one another.
28:53: In verse 26, if one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together.
29:01: That verse sounds like another one in Romans 12. Do you know? Does it ring a bell? If all the members suffer, they suffer together.
29:13: Yeah, that's the one I'm thinking of. Weep with those who weep. Rejoice with those who rejoice. When we are suffering together, may we all suffer, labor with each other, feel that heartbreak, pray for one another, encourage one another.
29:27: When we all rejoice together, let us all rejoice. And we try to fit into our members meetings, and you'll hear this tonight, and even in our
29:37: Sunday school classes in different places. We try to fit in stories of, you know, a way that this church has helped somebody.
29:46: So you can know, maybe you were not involved in that particular thing that had happened that helped to benefit somebody else, but you get to hear how the church that you're a part of, that you tithe to or give your offerings to, how it is working in service to the members of this body, and even in the work of evangelism and missions.
30:06: So we always want to keep you up to date on some of those things that are going on within the church, so that we may all rejoice together when these amazing things take place.
30:16: And you hear it every Sunday morning when in the pastoral prayer, we mentioned those members of our body that need prayer.
30:24: Mentioning those persons who are either homebound because of sickness, or maybe they've been in the hospital. And you know those names even because of the prayer bulletins that have been sent out, so that we may know each other's needs and be able to pray for one another accordingly.
30:40: Verse 27, or as we get into this next section here, verse 27 begins where Paul really brings home the understanding that we are the body of Christ.
30:52: Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. So we've seen sections where Paul addressed everybody individually, that's verses 14 to 20.
31:01: We've seen where the whole church is being addressed together to take care of its individual members, that's verses 21 to 26.
31:08: And now Paul is saying you're individuals, you're one body. He brings it all together in this same statement.
31:13: You are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, and then miracles and on and on it goes.
31:27: Now I said last week that I wasn't going to make the same mistake that Michael Pettit made with his class, where he said that the gifts are not ranked.
31:37: And he made a grave error because he didn't read ahead to see that the gifts are actually ranked right there at the end of chapter 12.
31:45: So he says, Paul says that God has appointed first whom?
31:52: The prophets, right? There are, yeah, the apostles second the prophets, which do the same thing.
31:58: They teach, they prophesy, they proclaim the word of God. The apostles come with the gospel.
32:07: The prophets, when you think of the prophets in a New Testament sense, not in the Old Testament man of God saying, you know, the man of God who hears from God, who tells the people, here's what
32:15: God is telling you. The prophets in the apostolic era complement the apostolic ministry.
32:22: So where the apostles would proclaim the gospel, the prophets are verifying that this message comes from God.
32:30: Of course, the apostles are verifying it by the miracles that they perform, but the prophets complement that and that they go out from the apostolic ministry, preaching and evangelizing to more and verifying that apostolic message with the prophecy that they would give.
32:44: So that's what we mean by prophets in the New Testament sense. It's a little bit different than prophets in the
32:50: Old Testament sense. So you have first apostles and you have second prophets because they complement the apostolic ministry.
32:57: But these are the teachers. These are the proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the church, that gospel that the church is built upon.
33:05: So of course, they're first, they're ranked first and second. But you have after that third teachers.
33:13: Now this is the same kind of list that we get in Ephesians 4 verses 11 and 12.
33:20: God has appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints of the work of ministry.
33:28: So you have even a listing there of a hierarchy, so to speak. Now we say hierarchy is this guy's up here and then everybody else underneath him.
33:37: But this hierarchy that we have is built from the ground up. The illustrations that we have in Scripture, whether you're talking about Ephesians 2 or in 1
33:47: Peter 2, it's that we are a house of God that is being built up. And the foundation of that house, what does it say in both of those chapters is the foundation.
33:58: Christ is the cornerstone. And then the foundation is the apostles and prophets, right?
34:04: So the apostles are laying that foundation. And then we who come to faith in Christ are being built up on that house.
34:11: Every person who comes to faith in Christ is another stone that has been added as Peter talks about in 1
34:18: Peter 2. So you have in the ranking, you've got apostles and prophets. You've got third teachers.
34:26: And then, so Paul gives a number assignment to each one of those. First apostles, second prophets, third teachers.
34:33: Where I fit in that is in the third. So I'm a teacher, Pastor Tom's a teacher,
34:40: Doug's a teacher. Teachers would be in that particular category. I know it's self -serving for me to say this, but your teachers are a blessing to you.
34:48: And that's the statement in Ephesians 4 .11. God gave these to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
34:55: So there's where we have the ranking, first, second, third. And by the way, don't let anybody come to you today saying that they are an apostle.
35:02: They're lying to you. If somebody says I'm an apostle or I'm a prophet, tell them, oh yeah, raise the dead and prove it.
35:11: So the apostles have spoken. And every time we open up the scriptures, we're hearing the testimony of the apostles and prophets.
35:19: Amen? The teachers giving the sense of what it is that we read. And then you have miracles, then miracles, then gifts of healing.
35:29: And before we get to the rest, helping administration, various kinds of tongues. Why do we go from apostles to prophets to teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing?
35:39: Why do they rank in those place in the spiritual gifts? Anybody know? Exactly. Right.
35:49: So the next gifts in that list are then miracles and then gifts of healing.
35:57: And those are the only two that have then in front of it. Notice that? Because then the rest of them are mentioned, helping administration in various kinds of tongues.
36:05: So those don't fall in a particular ranking necessarily. So you have then miracles and then gifts of healing, because these are miraculous things that are being done that verify the message being proclaimed is from God.
36:20: And we have that proven. Now, as I said last week, that's not to say just because the apostolic testimony has now been proven and the regular usage of those gifts, the regular occurrence of those gifts have ceased.
36:35: That doesn't mean that God is not going to work a miracle today. He absolutely will. That doesn't mean that God's not going to heal anybody today.
36:43: Pray for healing that you may be healed. It says that in James 5. And it's a different sort of assignment there in James 5.
36:52: It's not go to the faith healer that he may heal you. What does it say there in James 5 that you may be healed?
36:59: Call for the elders. Let them anoint you with oil. Confess your sins to them that you may be healed.
37:07: So if there is something in you that you must confess, and when we're talking about healing there, it could be some sort of spiritual thing, not necessarily a physical thing.
37:15: Just because somebody's physically sick doesn't mean they're in sin. It might be, but it doesn't always mean that.
37:21: So if somebody is dealing with something, call for the elders. Let them anoint you.
37:27: Pray over you that you may be healed. The kinds of healing and the kinds of miracles that we're talking about here are those things that confirmed that the message came from God.
37:41: But then we have these other things that are gifts any one of us may still have and be in use in the church today.
37:48: Helping, administrating, but not so much various kinds of tongues. I'm going to hold off on tongues.
37:54: We're going to talk about that when we get to chapter 14, because I've only got three minutes left, and we're not going to get into a whole deep theology about tongues right here, okay?
38:03: Are all apostles, Paul says. Are all prophets. Are all teachers. Do all work miracles.
38:09: Do all possess gifts of healing. Do all speak with tongues. Do all interpret.
38:15: What's the answer to every one of those questions? No. Meaning that you're not going to do all or any of these things.
38:27: But you may have a different gift. You may have something else that is in service to the church.
38:33: You can't do it all. And you have to let somebody else who has that particular gift.
38:39: Use that gift for the service of the body and for the glory of Christ. Now where Paul says, but earnestly desire the higher gifts.
38:50: That's not really an accurate translation of that particular verse. He says, you earnestly desire the higher gifts.
38:59: He's saying something descriptive there. He's not saying something imperative. You Corinthians desire the higher gifts.
39:07: Because remember how boasting they were? Remember how arrogant they were as one above another? And so how does
39:14: Paul resolve that statement? You earnestly desire the higher gifts. He says,
39:20: I'll show you the more excellent way. You want the higher gifts? I'll give you the highest way.
39:27: And what is that way? Love. That's what we get to next in chapter 13. Now it's not to say that love hasn't been here in chapter 12.
39:36: Because Paul has been saying, use your gift for the benefit of the body.
39:42: And so the body builds itself up in love. Amen. We're at a minute till.
39:49: So let me a minute to minute to the end of class. Anyway, let me finish with prayer.
39:55: And then we'll be dismissed. Heavenly father, we thank you for what you've given to us here in the scriptures.
40:00: And I pray that it would be convicting. It would be leading to us. That we would know how we may conduct ourselves in the body of Christ.
40:08: How we may be of service to you and to your kingdom and to your kingdom people. May we be patient with one another.
40:16: As we read in Romans 15, may those who are strong bear with the failings of the weak. As we read in Romans 14, may we not quarrel over opinions, but welcome one another.
40:26: How might we be of service to each other? How can we encourage and build one another up in this body?
40:34: For when we build someone else up in this body, even that benefits ourselves.
40:40: If we benefit the whole body, we benefit from that also. But only in humility.
40:46: Only in service to Christ our king. Who has called us to himself.
40:52: Who has reconciled us to God and to each other. That we may be unified.
40:59: Knowing that we have the same spirit dwelling within us. That raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
41:05: May we continue to testify to your goodness in this body that you have called us to.
41:11: It's in Jesus name that we pray. And all God's people said, Amen. This is
45:07: When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours.
45:14: But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family. Find a good, Gospel -teaching,
45:20: Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again Monday for more Bible study when we understand the text.